Hawks vs Warriors: Game Preview, Injury Report, Betting Odds, Projected Starting Lineups For Tonight's Game

After blowing out a depleted Hornets team, the Hawks are back in action against the Golden State Warriors tonight. Last time these two teams faced off, Atlanta got blown off the court by a margin of 120-97. A large portion of that was from Steph Curry, who went 4-6 from deep and scored 23 points. However, the leading scorer for Golden State was Andrew Wiggins. He had 27 points and seven rebounds on 12-17 shooting and the Hawks had no answer for him. Trayce Jackson-Davis also had a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Both of these teams are coming into the matchup with different looks. For Golden State, Wiggins has been replaced by star forward Jimmy Butler. Butler has been an excellent fit in the Warriors' system and he's been a massive contributor towards Golden State taking hold of the sixth seed in the Western Conference. Jonathan Kuminga also returned to the lineup on March 11th after missing 31 games with an ankle injury and he just had his best performance of late with 16 points in the Warriors' narrow win over the Raptors. However, Curry is going to be held out of tonight's matchup due to suffering a pelvic contusion. That gives the Hawks an opportunity to get an upset win with their resurgent bench lineup. Caris LeVert has been effective as a bench scorer while Georges Niang has brought spacing to a Hawks offense desperately in need of it.

While they aren't going to be favored in tonight's matchup, the absence of Curry makes it easier for Atlanta to get a much-needed win to build some distance between themselves and the Magic, who are only a game back of them for the seventh seed.

Game Preview

Coming into tonight's game, the Hawks are 5th in the NBA in PPG, 15th in FG%, 15th in 3PA, 21st in 3P%, 2nd in FTA, 25th in turnovers, and 13th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 18th in points per 100 possessions, 18th in effective field goal percentage, 21st in turnover percentage, 13th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 8th in free throw rate.

Currently, the Hawks rank 27th in PPG allowed, 28th in field goal percentage allowed, 15th in three-point attempts allowed, and 27th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 17th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 28th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

The numbers for the Warriors offense aren't completely representative of the team they have been since the trade deadline. Still, they are 18th in the NBA in PPG, 26th in FG%, 3rd in 3PA, 14th in 3P% and 17th in FTA, 15th in turnovers, and 4th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Golden State is 17th in points per 100 possessions, 21st in effective field goal percentage, 17th in turnover percentage, 7th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 22nd in free throw rate.

The Warriors' defense is arguably a top-10 unit in basketball. They rank 8th in PPG allowed, 11th in field goal percentage allowed, 9th in three-point attempts allowed, and 13th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Warriors are 7th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 12th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

Without Steph Curry, there are going to be a lot of ball-handling opportunities for Brandin Podziemski against Atlanta. Podziemski has been vital to the Warriors having a 7-3 record in the games without Curry this season because he's done a great job of stepping up to take on more of an offensive role. Per Databallr, he averages 15.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists on 53 TS% and 34.4% from deep in the 845 minutes he plays without Steph. He's a strong rebounder, solid passer and efficient scorer. Atlanta will need to slow him down as the likely second scoring option tonight. Although Podziemski struggled in his last matchup against the Hawks, expect him to eclipse 3 points on 1-6 shooting this time around.

Obviously, the main scoring threat for the Hawks to stop is Jimmy Butler. Butler has been excellent for the Warriors since being acquired at the trade deadline from the Heat. They are 16-2 with him in the lineup and Butler has averaged 17.2 points, 6.4 assists and 6.2 rebounds on 43.5/24.3/86.1 shooting splits as a Warrior. The effiency hasn't necessarily been there, but he's been great at carrying the non-Steph minutes and playing great defense. He's also been an effective playmaker and improved the Warriors' ability to slow the game down by drawing free throws. Their last game against the Raptors is an excellent depiction of what he brings as an all-around player - he had 16 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, two steals, and two blocks. Because Mo Gueye is prone to fouling and Risacher is too inexperienced, Dyson Daniels should be Butler's primary defender tonight. His combination of length, experience and quickness, as well as his ability to force turnovers, will be enormously helpful against a ball-handler like Butler.

Rookie center Quinten Post has been integral to the Warriors' turn-around and the responsibility falls on Onyeka Okongwu to slow him down. Okongwu had good performances against a similar type of player in Myles Turner, so there's reason to believe he can do well in this matchup. Post has been lights-out from deep this season - he's converting on 43.1% of his 4.3 attempts per game. He's a good catch-and-shoot option and has some ability as a ball-handler. However, one drawback of his game is his defense. He isn't a great rim protector and doesn't have the athletic tools to be a standout defender. That's an advantage that Okongwu might be able to press.

Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga are also very underrated parts of the Warriors' lineup. Moody is shooting a career-best 38.4% from deep while Kuminga is excellent at drawing fouls through his athletic tools as a scorer. Kuminga is averaging a career-best 16.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists. The complementary pieces for Atlanta will have their work cut out for them - LeVert and Niang will likely both need to be effective scorers in order to keep up with the Warriors' depth.

For the Hawks' offense, everything is going to come down to how well Trae Young can perform in this matchup. He usually plays well against the Warriors, but struggled a lot during his last matchup with them. Young had 12 points and 11 assists on 4-12 shooting. Fortunately, he won't have to match Curry's relentless barrage of three-pointers. He's coming off a 31-point outing versus the Hornets, so he has some momentum before tonight's game.

From a big-picture perspective, the Warriors struggle against big lineups and the Hawks don't really have that advantage. If Mo Gueye is getting shots to fall, this is a matchup where he could be especially useful. The Hawks will also have to compete for rebounds in this one and prevent second-chance points because Golden State is one of the best rebounding teams in basketball.

Injury Report

Caris LeVert (right knee soreness) and Trae Young (right Achilles tendinitis) are both probable, while Clint Capela (left fourth metacarpal ligament injury) is out.

For Golden State, Steph Curry (pelvis) is out while Gary Payton II (knee) is questionable.